Ron Paul Icons

First, the icons. I made these for you.

They are available at no cost. Save them to your desktop. Put them on your blog or website or wherever you want. Link from them to his campaign website, like so:

<a href="http://www.ronpaul2008.com"><img alt="ron_paul_80_15_icon_red.gif"
src="http://blog.lib.umn.edu/saintx/eremite/images/icons/ron_paul_80_15_icon_red.gif"
width="80" height="15" /></a>

Now, the explanation. Based on what information I have at this point in time, I'm throwing my support behind Representative Ron Paul in his bid for the Office of President for now. Here's why:

This week we're fielding a lot of telephone calls about the end of the modem pool service at the University this December. The truth of the matter is that the University dial-up Internet service just cannot compete in price or quality with the services available on the local market. Whether you live in Minneapolis or Menomonie Wisconsin, you can get better network service and better customer service from companies who specialize in providing Internet connections for their users. The remarkable competition in the marketplace for these features helps bring down prices. Some of our callers are very upset about this change, but the fact of the matter is that like it or not, the world is changing. Technology is changing. You have to get on the wave of change and ride it, or you'll end up beneath it.

This reminds me about our nation's current economic weaknesses. A handful of the GOP candidates for president (not Romney or Giuliani) were talking a lot of sense about what our nation needs in order to be free. If we can physically create our national defense, if we can feed our people and if we can supply ourselves with energy, then and only then do we have a shot at being truly independent and free. The dollar is in a state of free fall, the cost of tangible goods is on the rise, and I have doubts about what the future brings. When bridges in my community, right here on my doorstep, start falling into the river it registers as one hell of a "leading economic indicator".

Although I voted mostly for Democrats in the last four election cycles, I will not be supporting any of the Democratic Presidential candidates in this season's primaries. I'm throwing my support behind a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in my life, and am even considering officially registering as a Republican in Minnesota in order to vote for him.

His name is Ron Paul. I first read about Dr. Paul in the summer of 2004 while studying the candidates for the presidential election. I was beginning at that time to study economics and fiscal policy, and my research led me to become a member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. I began reading lewrockwell.com and listening to the Financial Sense Newshour with Jim Puplava and Tim Woods. It was probably on one of these three sites that I first became acquainted with Ron Paul.

Although I do not consider myself a libertarian, I do hold the Constitution in a degree of reverence roughly equivalent to the apparent disregard paid it by most in the federal government. As an opponent to the war in Iraq since it became inevitable in August of 2002, I found the constitutionalist ideals of Dr. Paul noble and his dedication very admirable. I remember wishing in 2004 that Dr. Paul were in the running as an independent.

So much has happened since that summer to convince me that shifting some power from the federal government to the State governments would benefit our country. The never-ending war. Explosive growth in federal government. The decision of the Federal Reserve not to publish the M2 numbers anymore, essentially taking away our ability to gauge inflation. The collapse of the housing market predicted by Puplava and his team of experts. Crumbling infrastructure and drought of industrial capital infrastructure development. Skyrocketing costs of raw materials and mineral resources. Bush's disregard for individual privacy. Plans to regulate the Internet. National confusion and turmoil over southern immigrants. The utter failure and cowardice of the Democratic majority in the House and Senate to check the power of the executive and end our role as a police force in Iraq's civil war. Escalation of tensions with Iran and Russia.

I don't want to have to concern myself with these matters. I have much bigger things to do with my time. But I don't feel I can trust the people in Washington D.C., and it isn't my duty to obey or defend them. It's my duty to obey and defend the Constitution upon which this Republic stands. So, I'm going to stick my neck out and support an unassuming little man from the Fighting Fourteenth in Texas. His name is Ron Paul. He's running for the office of president. And I'll do what small amount I can to help, knowing it would mean major change. Change is coming, and we'd better get ahead of it, or we'll find ourselves underneath it.

I made a small donation to the Ron Paul campaign the other day. This will be my second. Here are two little icons you can put on your web sites and home pages to show your support for Dr. Paul's bid for the white house. Get on the record if you support the constitution and say yes to "Dr. No"